london 4 days

I love Bath but I'd stay put in London with just 4 days. If you want to do a short day trip, how about going out to Windsor Castle?

I love the British Museum as well as the National Gallery (both free). I also love the Tower of London - make sure you do one of the free tours with the Yeoman Warders. It's the only way you can get into the small chapel on the grounds.

I've done a number of the London Walks and all have been excellent. Pick one that fits your interests. No need to sign up ahead so you can pick a nice day to do it. If you are interested in WWII the one called Westminster at War is really good and is an interesting companion to the Churchill War Rooms.

Rick has some free audio walking tours on the website here as well.

Get the new Rick Steves London book. Many good ideas, things to do, places to go. For example, a neat way to really see the guards without enduring the mob right at Buckingham Palace and seeing very little. London is a bustling city with much to see. From my experience it is not a cafe society sort of place, so sitting and watching the world go by? That would be France or Italy. Ditto for wine trips. If you enjoy theater it’s a great place to see a show. The dining scene rocks, so if you are foodies only your budget will determine where you dine.

Four days excluding your arrival and departure days? It would be like having 4 days to see NYC and taking up one whole day to see (a little of) Boston as a day trip. I'd spend the whole time in London. Note that Pam mentions "London Walks" which is not a generic term but he name of a company that runs inexpensive no-reservatione required walking tours. You just show up at the designated meeting point. Check it out at London Walks

If you like the theater, tickets to The Globe? I haven’t done this but plan to this summer — Eating Europe has a London food tour of the East End. Looks great. Did the Rome tour and loved it.

Loved, loved, loved Hampton Court Palace (Henry the VIII's house). https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/#gs.TBfnUQdm. If you see the movie The Favourite, it's set there. Also liked London Tower. We used London Walks for a tour of Westminster Abbey and it was well worth it.

I’ve done everything that you have mentioned and it was all good. The Churchhill war rooms were probably my least favorite, they weren’t bad, just not as good as I thought they would be. Westminster Abbey was fantastic, as others said the changing of the guard to me is just a big cluster of people and you can’t really see much. Bath and Stonehenge is a neat day trip but it will suck up an entire day. Tower of London is really cool, and if you are into modern art Tate Modern is neat. We are looking into going back to London next year and we are planning on hitting the British Museum (Rosetta Stone), Imperial war Museum, harry potter studio tour, Windsor Castle, and Saint Paul’s. London is so big just assume that you can’t do it all and try to do at least one thing every day that you really want to do and if you have extra time or energy, fit something else in but honestly just assume that you will have to come back.

The answer to your question completely depends on your interests, not the interests of others!

What sorts of places interest you? Do you like buildings, experiences, or sights of high historical interest? Does going to a concert or a West End Theatre seem like something of interest?

I personally really enjoyed day trips to Windsor, Bath, and Dover Castle the last time I went to London.
This time, I am going to go to Bletchley Park and Portsmouth in addition to sights in London. I go to locations or sights that interest me. I am going to return to some of my favorites (Tower of London and Churchill War Rooms) and skip other places in favor of some new locations I haven't been to yet (Hampton Court, Westminster Abbey).

The best approach is to realize that you can never "see it all" in one trip or maybe even multiple trips. Choose a plan that matches your interests and gives you the combination of city vs. smaller cities/towns that you are comfortable with.

I’d skip the Changing of the Guards, I finally saw part of it on my 5th trip, but it was simply by coincidence. My friend and I were walking though St James’s Park and the timing worked out.

It’s a great idea to allow sometime for drinks and people watching. Too many itineraries get crammed with too much and planned with the strictness of a military drill.

I wouldn’t do a a day trip with only 4 days. There’s too much to see just in London without the time spent getting to and from places on a day trip.

London Walks are amazing, I believe you can just pick any one of their tours and enjoy it. For me, I enjoy a variety of activities during a trip, so a morning museum trip, an afternoon London Walk, a pint of beer and then theatre or music at night is a perfect day.

Westminster Abbey is amazing, I’d allocate 2-3 hours. The Churchill War Rooms got very popular with the recent films, so you might want to book in advance.

I've never had a bad experience of any sort with London Walks on any of the walks we have done.

Instead of trying to fight the crowds at Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard, do a day trip to Windsor, tour the castle and the town and watch the Changing of the Guard there. You get to see much more and not have quite as many people around you. You wont' have to get into place 2-3 hours early (like you have to in London) to get a good viewing point. Windsor is our favorite castle. And the town is lovely, too. Walk over towards Eaton. If you are there in late spring or summer, there are river cruises on the Thames (lasts maybe an hour???). You get to see the back of the castle and a good bit of the countryside. Kew Gardens are always a good bet, too, no matter what time of year you go.

There are quite a Few places to sit and have a memorable glass of wine. The Sky Garden would probably be top of my list, but you'll need to book tickets (free) as soon as they are released 3 weeks in advance. There's a good bar and viewing deck at the top of Tate Modern, or the Oxo Tower.

London Walks was a great way to see Westminster Abbey. We didn't have to wait in line to get tickets, we had a fabulous guide who explained the history of the Abbey and all the chapels. I highly recommend it as a time saver and for the information. Other highlights for us were the British Museum (Rick Steves tour in his book hits all the highlights), and St. Paul's Cathedral. The theater was also fabulous; we did not go to the Globe, but the plays were saw were Broadway-caliber and cheaper.

If you are going to leave the city for a day trip, I would definitely choose Hampton Court Palace. Endlessly interesting, close to London, and you can get back in time to make plans for the evening. The more you know about it (and anything else for that matter), the more you will enjoy it. So, do your homework. There is a ton of info out there about nearly anything you might want to see. If Hampton Court, Tower of London, Kensington Palace and Banqueting House (small centrally located attraction. Well worth seeing and generally overlooked) make your short list, consider joining Historic Royal Palaces. You can save $$$, time, and get a free book out of the deal. We planned our first trip around it and were very glad we did. Also look into St Martin in the Fields, located near Trafalgar Square (and great free museums you should take advantage of). They have amazing concerts in the chapel early evening, and the ticket prices are reasonable. Choose seats next to the pipe organ in the balcony (not in use during these concerts). The view of the architecture will be breathtaking. There is a great cafe in the tomb below, that has reasonably priced good food, in an environment you never expected to eat in. Bath is worth seeing but not in a day. You couldn't see everything there is to see in London and it's surrounds if you had 4 months, much less 4 days. The good news is, none of it is going anywhere. You will most likely leave already planning your next trip.

b.paul1, I doubt the webmaster will see your question in the thread. On this forum the IT department is the only way a post can be removed (unless an OP elects to delete a whole thread or unless a poster decides to remove their own post) so I'd suggest contacting them with your query.

Curious that no one has mentioned the Tate Britain. If you like some Turner paintings, it is worthwhile.

@b.paul1

do you mean where you wrote

I am curious why your want to go to Bath?

I see this a lot on this forum.

It is a pleasant town and certainly worth a half day visit if you are
in the area.

However, it is not worth a visit if you are staying in or near London
for a week.

Winchester, Salisbury and Portsmouth Harbour are certainly ahead of
Bath and closer

and Norma agreed with you? That wasn't on this thread, it was in a post entitled "Clearing customs at Heathrow", and it wasn't deleted. It is still there. You can find it at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/clearing-customs-at-heathrow ... it is the 14th post down on that thread.

I’m in London right now and was very pleased with discovering the Booking Office restaurant at St Pancras. Absolutely gorgeous interior. Adjacent to the lobby of the St Pancras Renaisannce Hotel.

Not cheap but so pleasant. Great food and excellent service.

When I discover a place like this my attitude is “ this is why I have a credit card.”

We were at the British Library revisiting the Treasure Room and I expressed an interest in returning to the nearby Gas Towers to see the development that had occurred since I was there in 2017.

Was first in this neighborhood of London in the early 90’s. I’ve followed its amazing rejuvenation since then, visiting each time I’m in London.

The Granary Square and the Coal Drops Yard behind St Pancras is an unbelievable transformation. It’s also a short stroll from the Hardy Tree at St Pancras church yard. You can also follow the river path to Camden Lock.

My friend wanted to see The Kiss statue in St Pancras. The Booking Office Restaurant is right there.

Anyway, not touristy (yet) and a rather intriguing spot in my humble opinion.

the replies have been great. and my question answered! so many suggestions and reasons to stay and enjoy as much of london as i can this go around. thank you all for your generous suggestions. joan

I would also suggest a play. If you want to see a specific play try to buy tickets now but if you are unsure, I'd go to the TCKTS booth at Leicester Square. The theaters in the UK are so different than the US and I always like to buy ice cream at intermission so I can eat it in the theatre.

Very good suggestions have been offered. Pam is right on about the Tower of London tour and getting into the little chapel. Many do not realize how good a visit in there can be. Not only is Anne Boleyn buried in there, but so is her brother George. In the wall, no less!

One place I enjoyed a great deal that you rarely hear mentioned is the Museum of London. Excellent. And of course a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum deserves a few hours. Greenwich is worth the time to get there. Its sort of in London, but not exactly. Fun little boat ride up the Thames.

Are you by chance a fan of The Beatles? For me the trip to Abbey Road to walk across the street and to stand in awe in front of the studio where most of the magic of The Beatles was created was something I shall never forget.